Koronadal City, South Cotabato — October 24, 2025 The Timog Literary Circle (TLC) conducted the PDL Sulat Project, a one-day outreach event that combined writing, legal education, and community care at the Koronadal City District Jail (KCDJ). The initiative provided a creative and empowering platform for Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) to express their stories and aspirations through writing.
The KCDJ currently houses 478 PDLs, including 20 women, 16 senior citizens, and several individuals who entered detention as Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL). Of these, 46 PDLs were chosen to participate in the activity.
Through the talks of local writers Jennie P. Arado, TLC adviser and Arth Murillo, Sigaw Heneral chairperson, 25 participants learned the fundamentals of writing personal essays and poems that captured themes of love, loss, and hope for change.
Meanwhile, 21 others attended a legal education session facilitated by the Clinical Legal Education Program (Clep) and Student Council Officers of Notre Dame of Marbel University–College of Law, led by their Student Council President Joshua Baldeviesco.
The PDL Sulat Project is part of the SOX Zine Fest 2025. Every year, the provinces in the region take turns to host SOX Zine Fest, a literary event showcasing self-published zines of local writers.
For this year, on South Cotabato’s turn, Timog Literary Circle leads the hosting. All poems and essays written by the PDLs will be compiled, edited, and published into a zine to be officially launched and sold on November 29, 2025 at Notre Dame of Marbel University during the SOX Zine Fest 2025. Proceeds of the sales will go back to the PDL writers.
“We wanted this year’s SOX Zine Fest to be memorable. We wanted to hear the voice of South Cotabateños and not just the usual writers we always read of. The Sulat PDL Project aims to lend a platform to PDLs whose stories, we believe, are worth sharing to the public but they may not always have the chance to be read,” said Arado.
The activity was coordinated by TLC Chairperson Jessa Mae Magbanua, alongside advisers Arado and Ruben III Castañares, with support from members Laurehl Onyx Cabiles, Paul Randy Gumanao, Kelvin Jules Lorejo, Windel Samillano, and Hezel Ann Sulan.
The PDL Sulat Project was made possible through the support of Amber Notes, which provided notebooks, pens, and bond papers, and Tridax Zines, which donated zines by local writers in the region to inspire the participants.